Kenora Thistles
Encyclopedia
The Kenora Thistles were an early amateur men's ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team based in Kenora, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, formed in 1885 as a senior team by a group of Lake of the Woods lumbermen. The club is notable for winning the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

 as an amateur team in 1907. The town is the smallest in population to have ever won the Cup. The junior team started play in amateur leagues in the 1890s, and ceased playing in 1907, playing against Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

 and Northwestern Ontario
Northwestern Ontario
Northwestern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior, and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the Canadian province of Manitoba, which disputed Ontario's claim to the...

 based teams.

The team nickname has been revived since the demise of the original club in late 1907 to denote minor, junior, and senior league men's hockey teams.

Team foundings

The town of Kenora was originally known as Rat Portage. In the late 1880s, an amateur senior hockey club was formed by older professional men, most of them lumbermen, gold prospectors, or individuals in the local mining businesses. By the early 1890s, several young boys of the Rat Portage area, most of them between the ages of 9-11, formed a junior ice hockey team of the same name, which went on to beat the senior team in an exhibition. Among these young men were future Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

rs Tommy Phillips, Tom Hooper, Billy McGimsie
Billy McGimsie
William George McGimsie was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played for the Rat Portage Thistles and Kenora Thistles. He was born in Woodville, Ontario....

, and Silas Griffis.

Over the next five years, these young players began to populate the senior team and quickly established themselves as one of the premier amateur hockey clubs of the western Canadian provinces. In 1903 they challenged the Ottawa Silver Seven
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...

 for the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

 and lost. In 1905 they again challenged the Ottawa squad with the same disappointing results. That summer, the town of Rat Portage changed its name to Kenora.

Stanley Cup champions

In January 1907 the Thistles again challenged for the Cup, winning it in a total goals series against the Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...

. The games were played on January 17 and 21, with Kenora winning 4–2 and 8–6, respectively. Two other future Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

rs, Art Ross
Art Ross
Arthur Howey "Art" Ross was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman and executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first to skate with the puck up the ice rather than pass it to a forward...

 and "Bad" Joe Hall
Joe Hall
Joseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic...

 were also on the roster but did not play. Kenora, with a 1907 population of around 4,000, is the smallest town ever to claim the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

.

Just two months later, the Thistles were challenged by the Wanderers to a re-match. Despite importing the services of three more future Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

rs (Alf Smith
Alf Smith
Alfred Edward Smith was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators, and Kenora Thistles. He had two brothers who played senior-level hockey Harry Smith and Tommy Smith...

, Harry "Rat" Westwick
Rat Westwick
Harry "Rat" Westwick was a Canadian athlete in ice hockey and lacrosse. Westwick, nicknamed the Rat by a journalist, is most noted for his play with the Ottawa Hockey Club, nicknamed the Silver Seven during his day which won and defended the Stanley Cup from 1903 until 1906...

, and Frederick Whitcroft
Frederick Whitcroft
Frederick John "Fred" Whitcroft was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played for several notable amateur and early professional hockey squads, including the Renfrew Creamery Kings and the Kenora Thistles.Early in his career, Whitcroft made a name for himself in hockey circles with his outstanding...

), the team lost the Stanley Cup and most of its noted players afterward to other professional teams, family life, or retirement. Despite the promises from a rich lumber boss by the name of Taylor Concord Kraus to provide financial support to continue to field a professional team, The Thistles folded during the 1907-1908 Manitoba Professional Hockey League season.

Stanley Cup roster

List of January 1907 Stanley Cup challenge winners:
  • Eddie Geroux (Goal), Art Ross
    Art Ross
    Arthur Howey "Art" Ross was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman and executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first to skate with the puck up the ice rather than pass it to a forward...

     (Point), Silas Griffis (Cover Point), Tom Hooper (Rover), Billy McGimsie (Centre), Tom Phillips
    Tom Phillips (ice hockey)
    Thomas Neil Phillips was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger. Like other players of the time, Ross played for several different teams and leagues, and is most notable for his time with the Kenora Thistles; he also played with the Montreal Hockey Club, the Ottawa Hockey Club, the Toronto...

     (Left Wing- Captain), Roxy Beaudro
    Roxy Beaudro
    Roxy Francis Beaudro was an American amateur, and later professional ice hockey winger. He was a member of the 1907 Stanley Cup champion Kenora Thistles.-Playing career:...

     (Right Wing), Russell Phillips (Spare), Joe Hall
    Joe Hall
    Joseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic...

     (Spare)

Later incarnations

Since the original team's demise in late 1907, the nickname Thistle has been used for many hockey clubs in Kenora and is currently the nickname of the town's amateur, junior, and senior-level men's teams. A intermediate version of the Thistles were a Canadian Junior Hockey Team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League
Manitoba Junior Hockey League
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The MJHL is one of eleven Junior 'A' Hockey Leagues in Canada and is a member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League ....

 and began play in 1910. In 1934, they won the Turnbull Cup (MJHL) Championship, and repeated in 1940. The Thistles went on to win the Abbott Cup
Abbott Cup
The Abbott Memorial Cup, commonly referred to as the Abbott Cup, was awarded annually from 1919 through 1999 to the Junior "A" ice hockey Champion for Western Canada....

 defeating the Edmonton Athletic Club earning the right to represent the west in the Memorial Cup
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League , Quebec Major...

. It was the first year that 2 teams from Ontario would face off for the Memorial Cup. The best of five series was played in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

. Kenora lost the final in 4 games to the Oshawa Generals
Oshawa Generals
The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. The Generals are one of the most successful franchises in Canadian Hockey League...

.

The 1940 Kenora Thistles were inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1985 when the first honoured members were named and plaques were erected in their honour. The first group of inductees was large in order to recognize the accomplishments of Manitoba players, coaches, builders and teams at the...

 in the team category. They also have been inducted in the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, The Midwest`ern Canadian Professional Men's Winter Sports Hall of Fame, as well as Kenora's local Hall of Fame.

In 1968 the Kenora Muskies began playing in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League
Manitoba Junior Hockey League
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The MJHL is one of eleven Junior 'A' Hockey Leagues in Canada and is a member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League ....

. In 1975, the Team changed it name to the Thistles in honour of the Stanley Cup team.

External links

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